Footbridge across the River Svratka in Brno, Czech Republic

This bridge, which won a fib Award for Outstanding Concrete Structures in 2010, connects a newly developed area (Spielberk Office Centre) with an old city district. It is situated in the vicinity of a new international hotel and a prestige business area. Close to the bridge there is an old multi-span arch bridge with piers in the river. It was evident that any new bridge should also make use of an arch structure, but with a bold span not needing piers in the riverbed, see Fig. 1. Due to poor geotechnical conditions, a traditional arch structure with a large horizontal force to be resisted was considered too expensive. Therefore, a self-anchored stress ribbon and arch structure was chosen. The smooth curves so characteristic of stress ribbon structures allowed a “soft” connection of the bridge deck at both banks.